VATICAN CITY – Pope Francis’ funeral will happen early on April 26, setting the stage for a solemn ceremony that may draw leaders from world wide.
Pope Francis, 88, died unexpectedly on April 21 after suffering a stroke and cardiac arrest, the Vatican stated, ending an typically turbulent reign through which he repeatedly clashed with traditionalists, and championed the poor and marginalised.
The pontiff spent 5 weeks in hospital earlier in 2025 for double pneumonia. However he returned to his Vatican residence virtually a month in the past and had gave the impression to be recovering, showing at St Peter’s Sq. on Easter Sunday.
The Vatican on April 22 launched pictures of Pope Francis wearing his vestments and laid in a wood coffin within the chapel of the Santa Marta residence, the place he lived throughout his 12-year papacy.
His physique might be taken to the adjoining St Peter’s Basilica at 9am (3pm Singapore time) on April 22 in a procession led by cardinals, permitting the trustworthy to pay their final respects to the primary Latin American pope.
His funeral service will then be held at St Peter’s Sq., within the shadow of the Basilica, at 10am.
US President Donald Trump, who clashed repeatedly with the Pope about immigration, stated he and his spouse would fly to Rome for the service.
Amongst different heads of state set to attend had been President Javier Milei from Pope Francis’ native Argentina, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
In a break from custom, Pope Francis confirmed in his remaining testomony launched on April 21 that he wished to be buried in Rome’s Basilica of Saint Mary Main and never St Peter’s Basilica.
His sudden dying set in movement historic rituals, because the 1.4-billion-member Church began the transition from one pope to a different, together with the breaking of the Pope’s “Fisherman’s Ring” and lead seal in order that they can’t be utilized by anybody else.
All cardinals in Rome had been summoned to a gathering on April 22 to resolve on the sequencing of occasions within the coming days and evaluate the day-to-day working of the Church within the interval earlier than a brand new pope is elected.
A conclave to decide on a brand new pope usually takes place 15 days to twenty days after the dying of a pontiff, that means it shouldn’t begin earlier than Could 6. Some 135 cardinals are eligible to take part within the extremely secretive poll which might stretch over days.
At current, there’s no clear front runner to succeed Pope Francis.
Progressive
Pope Francis inherited a Church in disarray and labored laborious to overtake the Vatican’s central administration, root out corruption and, after a gradual begin, confront the scourge of kid abuse throughout the ranks of the priesthood.
He typically clashed with conservatives, nostalgic for a standard previous, who noticed Pope Francis as overly liberal and too accommodating to minority teams, such because the LGBTQ neighborhood.
Pope Francis appointed practically 80 per cent of the cardinal electors scattered internationally who will select the following pope, rising, however not guaranteeing, the chance that his successor will proceed his progressive insurance policies.
Most of the cardinals are little recognized outdoors their very own nations, and they’ll have an opportunity to get to know each other at conferences generally known as “common congregations” that happen within the days earlier than a conclave begins and the place a profile of the qualities wanted for the following pope will take form.
The Vatican stated late on April 21 that employees and officers throughout the Holy See might instantly begin to pay their respects earlier than the Pope’s physique on the Santa Marta residence, the place he arrange residence in 2013, shunning the grand, apostolic palace his predecessors had lived in.
His physique might be moved to St Peter’s Basilica as early as on the morning of April 23 for the trustworthy to go to, the Vatican stated. REUTERS
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